Cannabis history

JUN 18, 2014 - GETTING HIGH AND LOW IN THE MAL CAPITAL (SRI LANKA)

A
certain section of the Sri Lankan population cutting across the class
divide smokes weed. The same holds true for the tourists in Sri
Lanka. Together they actually sustain a steady, perhaps even growing
demand for weed, which is better known as cannabis, marijuana or
kansaa/ganja. Now in Sri Lanka, cannabis is illegal to grow, sell and
possess and can be punishable under the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous
Drugs Act No.13 of 1984 with an exception made in the case of usage
for medicinal purposes. So, illegally or otherwise, there’s a real
demand.

The plant, admittedly, does not grow by itself to meet this
demand. Instead, there is an organized network of investors, growers,
laborers, brokers and distributors which runs this industry as an
unrecorded economic activity in the country. Sri Lanka’s
Anti-Narcotics agency SLANA estimates that about 500 hectares of land
is used to grow cannabis. The
exact figure could be higher and no one knows the volume of business
generated.